Knicks Go training like a champ for Pegasus World Cup

It’s not like Knicks Go has anything to prove at this point, but he still impressed his Eclipse Award-winning trainer in a Fair Grounds workout on Sunday, the third-to-last work before Knicks Go ships to Florida to end his career in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park.

Knicks Go, who won the Pegasus last year, officially clocked 1:14 for six furlongs, with trainer Brad Cox timing his seven-furlong gallop-out in 1:26.20, his mile in 1:40.20.

“He’s obviously a very good work horse, gallops out incredibly well, and we saw more of the same yesterday morning,” Cox said Monday.

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Not that the horse will be any wiser, but the Pegasus comes nearly two weeks before the Eclipse Awards, where Knicks Go will be named 2021 Horse of the Year. Knicks Go flies from New Orleans to Florida on Monday, Jan. 24, and after the Pegasus travels by van to begin his stud career in Kentucky.

At this time last year, Knicks Go had one Grade 1 win, in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, since posting a 70-1 upset for trainer Ben Colebrook in the 2018 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland. He’d made only three starts for Cox, and no one was sure the horse would be able to stay 1 1/8 miles. Knicks Go answered the distance question in the Pegasus, and after failing to run to form in a pair of one-turn starts, the Saudi Cup and the Met Mile, he ended his 2021 campaign with victories in the Prairie Meadows Cornhusker, the Whitney, the Lukas Classic, and with a dominant score in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

“I think he’s even better now than he was a year ago,” Cox said. “Mentally, he’s still very, very sharp. He relaxes more in his gallops, and in his races he’s a little more relaxed, where he used to kind of just run them off their feet. He’s older and wiser – and just as fast.”

There’s hope in the Cox barn that 4-year-old Mandaloun can help fill the void left by Knicks Go’s retirement, and Mandaloun also worked six furlongs Sunday at Fair Grounds, clocking 1:13.20 prepping for the Jan. 22 Louisiana Stakes. Mandaloun, unraced since winning the July 17 Haskell Invitational via disqualification, is being pointed toward the Saudi Cup on Feb. 26, as is Midnight Bourbon, another expected Louisiana Stakes runner.

Cox also reported that he’s considering sending Warrant to Gulfstream along with Knicks Go to start in the Fred Hooper Stakes on the Pegasus undercard. Warrant ended his 3-year-old campaign Sept. 24 with a career-best performance winning the Oklahoma Derby and has been working steadily at Fair Grounds.

Cox said he’s considering two stakes races for Fair Grounds dirt-route maiden winner Cyberknife – the Jan. 22 Lecomte and the Southwest Stakes one week later at Oaklawn Park.